Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Anchor-ice.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun North America A collection of stray ice crystals that form in fast-moving water.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Canadian French frasil, frazil, fraisil, from French fraisil ("coal cinders"), from Old French faisil.

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Examples

  • The first signs of freezing are changes in color and texture as millions of tiny floating ice needles form, creating a dense “soup” called frazil ice.

    Arctic Ocean 2008

  • As the ocean water begins to freeze, small needle-like ice crystals called frazil form.

    Sea ice 2008

  • One of them, ready for use, was covered with the black earth called 'frazil', which is extracted from the site of old charcoal works; the other, in course of construction, showed the successive layers of logs ranged in circles inside, ready for the fire.

    The French Immortals Series — Complete Various

  • One of them, ready for use, was covered with the black earth called 'frazil', which is extracted from the site of old charcoal works; the other, in course of construction, showed the successive layers of logs ranged in circles inside, ready for the fire.

    A Woodland Queen — Complete Andr�� Theuriet 1870

  • This has implications for the types of ice that constitute the freeze-up cover and for the creation of unique under-ice habitats such as air cavities and those influenced by frazil concentrations.

    Effects of climate change on general hydro-ecology in the Arctic 2009

  • It was on that frazil ice, that some people called lolly, that I meant to run for my life now, trusting to the resistance of the two feet of snow that lay on the lake in the mysterious way snow does lie on lolly, and to the snowshoes on my feet.

    The La Chance Mine Mystery Susan Morrow Jones

  • When ICESCAPE Co-chief Scientist Don Perovich of the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory conducts an ice watch, he scans for formation types like frazil, shuga, grease and pancake.

    Scientific American 2010

  • Hers is Yosemite, where she longs to see the frazil ice that forms there every March and April.

    Ellen Sterling: The Complete Road Trip: Main Highway or Obscure Byway, One Site Has Them All Ellen Sterling 2011

  • Hers is Yosemite, where she longs to see the frazil ice that forms there every March and April.

    Ellen Sterling: The Complete Road Trip: Main Highway or Obscure Byway, One Site Has Them All Ellen Sterling 2011

  • Changes in the ice regime will also require changes in operating strategies for hydroelectric installations, both at the generating facility to reduce impacts from ice (e.g., accumulations of frazil, the slushy ice-water mixture that develops when turbulent water starts to freeze), and for management of downstream flows to minimize negative impacts on river ecology and infrastructure.

    River and lake ice in the Arctic 2009

Comments

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  • Also called needle ice: Ice crystals that form in supercooled water that is too turbulent to permit coagulation into sheet ice. Most common in swiftly flowing streams, but it's is also found in turbulent seas (where it's called lolly ice). It may accumulate on submerged objects, obstructing the water flow.

    September 23, 2007

  • Chilly nights in Rio can be quite unpleasant.

    March 6, 2009